Time runs out on historic school buildings in Leesburg
LEESBURG – Time has run out for the old Lee Adult School buildings. New plans, which have so far been tentatively approved by the city, call for both of the historic structures to be razed to clear the way for 63 townhouses on the five-acre site.
Even the city’s historic preservation board has voted unanimously for the buildings on the National Register of Historic Places to be torn down.
“At some point, the city has to move on,” said Dan Miller, the director of planning and zoning.
Earlier coverage: Lee School named one of Florida’s ’11 to Save’
Related story: Plans to turn Leesburg's Lee School site into town homes delayed amid COVID-19 pandemic
The city’s Planning and Zoning Commission is set to vote on the small-planned unit development rezoning on Thursday. The matter will then go to the City Commission for a second and final reading on Feb. 27.
A longstanding issue
Developers and the city have toyed for years with the idea of somehow preserving at least the main building, built in 1915, by incorporating it into assisted living or apartments schemes, but the brick structures have deteriorated beyond anyone’s hopes.
The property, bound by Lee, Perkins, West Line, and Herndon streets, has been wracked with vandalism, homeless trespassers and fires. It’s a regular call spot for police, Miller said.
Film crews used part of the building to film “The Mad Hatter” horror movie.
In January of 2021, plans called for 14 apartments to be housed in the main historic building, while the smaller school, built in 1924, would be razed. Construction on the then-$2 million project was to begin in the spring or summer, but delays, including those caused by Covid 19, worker and material shortages and high prices, put everything on hold, said Tim Cantrell, a Realtor with Florida First Realty Associates and longtime friend of Mansfield’s.
He also said at the time, “lenders are hemming and hawing.”
“It’s been one thing after another,” Cantrell said. “He’s [Mansfield] got a lot of things going on. A lot of people talk a big game, but he’s stepped up.”
He said the project will be completed.
What are the current plans?
Plans now call for 10 buildings, each with six townhouse units, and one building with three.
The concept also includes 14,500 square feet for recreation space. One of the requirements the city is demanding is preservation of cornerstones, which will be incorporated into some type of historical monument.
Mansfield could not be reached for comment.
The city has added strict requirements to the plans to make sure the project is completed in a timely manner.
“The project shall be required to commence (pull and execute a building permit within 18 months of the approval of this SPUD document by City Commission,” the city document states.
Demolition of the smaller, 1924, building can begin immediately but the main building is not to be razed until at least eight units are built and ready for inspection.
Looking back
The school closed in 2003. In 2014, Orlando-based developer Tony Benge bought it for $200,000 from the Lake County School District, property records show. He had plans to turn it into an assisted living community.
Prospera bought it in 2018. Initially, Prospera had planned to spend $500,000 to $600,000 to transform the school into a 14-room dorm. Later estimates came it at $1.4 million.
“My mother-in-law went to school here, so trust me I hear this at home, too,” Mansfield told residents touring the building in 2019. “It’s not that we didn’t want to (save this.)”
“There is a lot of sentiment in the community,” Miller said.
Former mayor and president of the Leesburg Heritage Society Sanna Henderson in 2021 liked the idea of renovating the main school house.
“We feel this is the best we could do, to save the one building,” she said.
“I went to elementary school there” she said, and she returned in 1968 to teach kindergarten.
This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Leesburg development: Old Lee Adult School buildings will be razed
